The adventure of growing up
by flyingcucumbers
Summary: The Backyardigans crew are now in high school, and as they grow up together, they have to figure out who they are, just like every other coming of age story, but with The Backyardigans!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

 **A/N: So this is my first fanfic, and I don't really know what I am doing, so please leave a review and tell me what's right and what's wrong, and if you like this or hate this or whatever. Enjoy!**

The quintet of friends sat in their backyard, which was no longer used for going on fun imaginative adventures, but as a space to catch up on life and each other. Pablo was perched on top of the slide, which he had dragged near the picnic table, while Uniqua was on top of the table, hugging her knees, at one end. The other two, the more refined ones, were sitting on the bench, Tyrone and Tasha facing Austin. The friends were chattering excitedly, as they had just learned that the high school musical for the year was to be Once Upon a Mattress, and, being a very musical crew, they were all very eager to sign up.

"I'd be just perfect for Winifred!" exclaimed Uniqua, trying, and failing to keep her excitement from bubbling over.

"Yeah, you would, but there's no one in the school who could play Queen Aggravain better than me, I make a perfect elegant and classy villain" added Tasha, as she touched up her lipstick and mascara.

"Hey, hey, guys, imagine Tyrone here as Sir Harry, can't you just see him being noble and loving? And Julie is a shoo-in for Lady Larkin, those two have some serious chemistry going on" Replied Pablo, eager to add in his two bits.

"Hey!" An indignant retort flew out Uniqua's mouth before she could stop it; she had a major crush on Tyrone, but, like any teenager, didn't want him to know, lest he didn't reciprocate her feelings.

Tyrone, always willing to put in a good word for his best friend, stated "And Pablo would be great as Dauntless"

"He's certainly childish enough" grumbled Tasha bitterly. She saw Pablo as a pest who was always getting in the way. She then realized that one person had yet to contribute to the conversation. "hey, Austin, who are you gonna try out for?"

"Oh, me, well, I don't think I'm gonna be trying out for the musical this year, I'm going out for the football team, and I won't have time"

Upon hearing that shy declaration, Uniqua was outraged. "Wait, What? How can you not do the musical? You love singing, and dancing, and pretending! A musical is just like all our childhood games, but with people getting to see how awesome we are!"

"Yeah… I know… but I'm a man now, and I can't be seen doing girly things like singing and dancing," replied Austin, lashing out at his friends. Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Uniqua all stared at him flabbergasted. They had never seen Austin acting like this, lashing out at them, and dissing the thing they love most. He was such a nice and shy guy, even with his friends, going along with their games, and just being generally amiable. An angry and rude Austin was so foreign they couldn't believe what they had heard.

Austin saw their stares, and his cheeks heated, in anger, but then embarrassment, as he realized how cruel his last comment had been. Not willing to admit he had said something wrong, he stormed off to his house to wallow in his misery.

Austin stormed angrily into his house, muting his frustration for a moment as he passed his mother. He knew better than to involve her in his problems. It was bad enough his friends had to see his outburst, anyone else would just maximize his embarrassment. Once Austin finally made it to the solitude of his bedroom, he flopped onto his bed with a sigh.  
"Why are they so nosey? Why can't they just mind their own business?" Austin began to rant to the empty air around him. "Do they really need to know the reasons behind everything I do?" Frustration and anger poured out of the purple kangaroo as he threw a pillow at the wall. He felt a need to let out all his emotions, but, like most pubescent boys was unable to sit down and have a heartfelt discussion about how he felt, nor was he willing to descend to the ultimate shame of keeping a diary. As is, Austin felt his only choice was to chuck everything around his room, or have his head explode from the buildup of raging emotions.

After releasing all of his annoyance fueled adrenaline into the flight of his possessions, Austin realized he did indeed have a means of expression. With a brief face palm, marveling in his stupidity, Austin pulled out his sketchpad, and colored pencils, and began to draw.

Although Austin had gotten the intense burning of anger out of his system, that was still the prominent feeling in his heart, so he picked up his fiery red pencil, and began drawing his friends with a heavy hand. After about ten minutes, he switched to the blue, with more curvy and nondescript lines, as his anger morphed into sadness. Austin realized that he really wasn't that angry at his friends. _After all_ , he thought, _they didn't do anything except get excited to audition for the musical. I would be excited too, but there is no way I'm going to be seen doing something so girly and stupid as a school musical. I have my masculinity to keep in mind, I gotta keep up my image._ By this time, Austin had once again switched colors, and was doodling random violets. _I can't let anyone see any weaknesses. That would be so embarrassing._

On that note of manliness, Austin felt confident enough to go back outside and face the world once more.

On the first day, the friends all scurried to the message board outside the chorus room, scrambling to be the first to sign up for their respective parts. Pablo wanted to sprint to the board, but he was a ninth grader in his first year of high school, and he didn't know the complicated layout of the sprawling school yet. Uniqua was just as eager to reach the sign-ups, but as she was a _mature_ tenth grader, she forced herself to slow down and merely walk at a quick pace. Lagging behind the two, were Tasha and Tyrone watching the younger ones as they gallivanted down the hall, barely containing their excitement. There was an amused smile plastered on both of their faces.

A couple minutes later, the four went off to put their binders in their lockers, and head off to homeroom, leaving the lists with ink still drying. Under Queen Aggravain, was a loopy cursive Tasha. Uniqua was written in girly bubbly letters. Pablo just left his signature (heh, I'm so punny) scrawl, while Tyrone carefully printed each letter clearly and legibly.

Meanwhile, Austin was walking a completely different path toward the gymnasium. He reached the signups for football, and a furious battle arose within him. In a cliché man vs. self argument scene, a devil appears on one shoulder, and an angel on the other, but for Austin, he had a muscleman version of himself wearing a jersey on one shoulder, and a toned one wearing mideval royalty getup on the other.

"Come on! You can do it! Sign that paper!" the jock cheered energetically.

The actor had a different idea "Is that really what you want Austin? Wouldn't you rather be in the play? You know that is what you really want to do."

"Musical?" the jock scoffed, "Musicals are for wimps. Join the football team, you'll meet tons of real men to look up to, and become."

"But is it really worth it to give up what you truly love for 'manliness"? Make sure you really know what you are doing here Austin"

"All right," Austin whispered to himself, hoping no one would hear and question his sanity, "I know what I'm going to do."

With a deep breath, Austin steeled himself, and reluctantly signed the list.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

About a week into the school year, Tyrone, Tasha, Pablo, and Uniqua were sitting in the cafeteria, eating their various lunches. Austin had grabbed his mixed grasses and ran to his math class to get some extra help on functions. Although Austin was very smart, he had only gotten into the honors program through the aid and private tutoring of all his math teachers, and this year was to be no different.

Anyways, the Austin-less group was taking advantage of Austin's absence to comment on the changes they had noticed in his behavior. Tyrone took charge, asking everyone to share what they had noticed seemed off about Austin lately.

"Well," started Tasha primly, "he stopped having any sense of style, he just wears running shorts and an old t-shirt every day now. He used to have a remotely decent sense of fashion, but now he looks like a slob, just like every other teenage boy around here."

"Yeah, he has, but more importantly, he stopped being cool to me. He used to kinda hang with me and Tyrone, but now he ignores me if he sees me in the hallway, and he even once told me to leave him alone. I think he just wants to look good for those jock guys he started chilling with," Pablo complained.

With an outraged tone, Uniqua expressed the most pressing issue in her mind, "He doesn't want to do the _school musical_!" with this exclamation, bickering babble broke out from three sides of the table.

"Quiet down!" Tyrone broke out his rare shouting voice to regain order. " So Austin has changed, and I don't think any of you like these changes; I know I certainly don't. So the question is, why is Austin acting like this now? And what can we do about it?"

"Well, almost every time he lashes out, he says something about things being girly. Maybe that's part of it," Uniqua pointed out.

"Really? I hadn't noticed" Tasha said offhandedly.

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" claimed Pablo, "Maybe he wants to be more popular, so he is trying to fit in."

"That would certainly explain why he is being so mean to us, that's how everyone else acts," said Uniqua with a sigh. Sometimes, being the theatre clique really sucked.

"Austin said he would be back for the last ten minutes of lunch, so he should be here in about five more minutes. So that brings us to the final problem. What should we do about Austin's new behavior?" Tyrone said, prompting the beginning of the end of the conversation.

"Well we have to do something," whined Pablo "I can't stand it when he is so mean. It just isn't right."

Tasha had a rebuttal, "Why don't we leave him alone? Maybe he is finding his true self, maybe he really doesn't belong with us, or in the musical. We shouldn't be sticking our noses in his business anyways"

Uniqua, always the problem solver, knew what to do. "I'll go talk to him. I'll just make sure that he is okay and doesn't need help or anything." Her solution satisfied everyone, so they switched their conversation to small talk and school gossip in the nick of time as Austin returned to the cafeteria.

"Excuse me Ms. Kangaroo? Is Austin home?"Uniqua's voice was slightly higher pitched than normal, partially due to her worry about the impending conversation, and partially because she felt that the pitch made her seem more polite to adults.

"Oh, yes, he is in his room, doing some homework, you can just go right up. Would you like to grab some cookies before you go up? I just took some oatmeal raisin ones out of the oven."

Uniqua politely accepted the offer, and took three cookies, shoving a fourth into her mouth before heading up to Austin's room. When she arrived, she saw Austin sitting on his bed, looking at pictures of muscular guys without shirts.

"That doesn't look like homework to me." Uniqua said pointedly.

Austin quickly slammed his laptop shut, and looked up at his pal with a guilty smile. "No, it isn't homework, I was just… looking at pictures of who I want to be. I really need to bulk up if I want to do football." Austin blurted the last bit out quickly.

"Okay," Uniqua replied warily, "Good luck with… bulking up… I guess…" She regained her composure, then continued. "So, we've noticed that you've been acting kind of differently lately, dressing more casually, ignoring us, _not signing up for the musical_ " Uniqua didn't mean to sound angry, but she was still really bothered that anyone, let alone Austin could possibly feel sports were more important than the musical. "I'm just here to make sure everything is going okay."

Austin was taken aback. _My friends really care that much about me? I didn't even realize they noticed me._ He was so delighted to know his friends cared, but he still wasn't ready to share what was actually on his mind.

"Well that's really nice of you to come check on me, but everything is fine. I promise. I'm just really worried about the football tryouts. That's all."

"If you insist, but if something is wrong, don't forget that you can tell me anything. Matter of fact, you can tell any of us anything. We will always be here for you, and encourage you no matter what"

"Thanks Uniqua, but I promise, I'm good. Now can you leave? I actually have some homework I have to do."

Uniqua left, still unsatisfied, and as she left, she noticed that Austin had not started doing homework, but had instead returned to ogling the muscle-man photos.

That Friday, Austin's big day arrived. He waited anxiously for school to end, his leg bobbing with pent up energy every class. Finally it was the afternoon, and Austin put on all his padding and headed out to the football field behind the school with all the other guys. Austin doesn't really know anyone there very well, but he latches onto a group of guys in his gym class that he had been hanging out with. They are talking about a football camp they all went to over the summer, and how much it was going to help them with the upcoming tryouts. One guy, James was talking about how he felt incredibly unprepared because it had been ages since he had last practiced in the ropes.

This conversation caused Austin to panic, as he didn't even know what the ropes were, let alone practice in them. A shocking realization then punched Austin in the gut. He didn't know the first thing about being a good football player. All he had done to prepare for this tryout was go to the gym a bit to get in shape, toss around a football in the front yard with his dad, and look up all the rules of the game on the internet. His only prayer of getting of the team was the hope that the coach would see his enthusiasm and let him in for that alone.

Surprisingly, on the first exercise, a test of agility, Austin excelled, probably due to his background in dance. The guys, who had originally seen Austin only as a hopeless wanna-be, started to look at him with a hint of admiration in their eyes. Sadly, that spark was quickly put out when Austin epically failed at the passing exercise and scrimmages. Once the torturous embarrassment of failure was over, Austin walked home with his head hung in shame, shuffling his feet slowly.

 _I wish today never happened. I had no chance of making the team. I don't even know what I was thinking._ Austin mentally berated himself for his stupidity.

"So, how did it go honey?" Austin's ever-cheerful mother asked him when he walked in the door.

"Terrible. I'm never doing a sport ever again."

Austin's angry grumble surprised his mother, but she quickly regained composure and offered an optimistic reply. "Aww, sweetie, I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think, and besides, maybe you will do better at basketball this winter."

"No, I'm not getting on the team, and I'm not trying out for basketball either." Austin stomped to his room muttering about how no one understands him.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

 **A/N Many thanks to 1980sjfk for reviewing, maybe he/she/they are setting an example? Please?**

Unlike most coaches or school activity leaders, Coach Bull was against sending out emails to tell people if they got on the team or not. Instead, he posted it on the board by the gym, so for people to learn how they did, they had to either go to the board before classes started, or they could wait for somebody else to tell them what it said. Obviously, everyone chose the former option.

Just for kicks and giggles, Austin decided to go see that he didn't get on the team. When he reached the thin hallway behind the gym where the board was posted, he was unable to enter it due to the multitude of huge bodies packed in the hall, shoving one another, trying to get a glimpse of the list. As Austin stood awkwardly at the outskirts of the mob, he heard various grunts of accomplishment and moans of agony drifting to him, taunting him to look at the board and see if he really didn't get in or not. After ten minutes or so, the crowd thinned enough that Austin was able to wiggle his way through, and see the fateful list.

Austin skipped the results for quarterback and linemen, as he knew he had absolutely no chance at those rolls being inexperienced and having a thinner build. When he reached the backs and receivers, he started actively searching for his name. As expected, the word Austin was nowhere to be found. Until he saw the last name on the list.

Waterboy: Austin Kangaroo. Well, thought Austin, at least I wasn't cut entirely. Now I can learn to play, and maybe the guys will still let me hang out with them, even if I'm not getting any play time.

In a much happier mood than before, Austin puckered his lips and began whistling a little ditty as he wandered off to homeroom.

One day in the cafeteria, the five were discussing random gossip that was floating around the school, when the topic of homecoming came out. Apparently, for some reason, a ton of people had decided to do epic proposals for homecoming as well as prom this year. For this reason, many adorable "homecoming?" posters could be found all over the school. For the backyardigans, these "awwww" worthy posters were perfect topic for lunchtime conversations.

"Did you see Abigail's proposal? She wrote I know this is cheesy but and then the word homecoming on a pizza with pepperoni. It is super cool." Pablo's eagerly babbled.

"Oh yeah, that was nice, but did you see Josh, he got all his friends together to ask Courtney, with one letter per shirt. I know it is kinda overused, but I love when people use fasion as an answer." As always, Tasha managed to find a way to bring clothing into the conversation.

"Did you guys see Will's though? He asked out Charlie with a huge scavenger hunt that ended with flowers he arranged to cover Charlie's whole yard to spell out homecoming. That was probably the coolest proposal I have ever seen" Tyrone's tale topped them all, but brought out an unexpected emotion in Austin. Surprise.

"Wait, Will and Charlie are _dating_! I thought they were just best friends!" The shock was evident in Austin's voice.

In an incredulous tone, Uniqua responded to his astonishment "Uh yeah, you didn't know that? They made it pretty obvious."

"oh, huh, I guess I just never noticed that" Admitted Austin in a meek voice. The friends acknowledged Austin's semi-apology and then moved on to discussing various other homecoming proposals that really sparked their interest. For Austin though, Will and Charlie's romance continued to hound him, occupying his mind all day.

 _So Charlie and Will are dating. I can't believe I didn't notice. They just acted like friends, and they are both boys… and they are dating… Is that really okay? But you know, the others didn't seem to have a problem with it, they just thought that Will's proposal idea was really cute. I guess all that stuff I read about gay kids getting bullied and stuff doesn't matter here._

With that revelation, Austin was quite content, and it prompted him to make one of the most important decisions he had ever made.

That evening, Austin brought a tall chair out toward the picnic table in the backyard. He placed it on one end of the table, opposite to where Pablo's slide and Uniqua's end of the table usually are. By the time everyone else had finished their homework and came outside for their every so often chat, Austin was situated in his chair, attempting to give off an air of comfort and ease, but his relaxed appearance was destroyed by the fact that his friends knew him well and could see the tension built up throughout his body.

"So, Austin, you clearly have something on your mind," Stated Tyrone.

"Yeah, yeah, spill all, now!" Exclaimed Pablo eagerly, not sensing the solemnity of his friend's expression.

Austin avoided all eye contact with his friends as he steeled himself to deliver his news. "Okay, guys, I have something really important to tell you guys." He looked around, and saw Pablo bouncing up and down, in danger of falling down the slide, Tyrone was sitting calmly, smiling his affirmation and nodding to Austin to continue talking, Tasha was in the process of adding a coat of pink polish to her perfectly manicured nails, Uniqua was sitting looking interested, but not impatient for him to continue.

"So Uniqua told me that you guys think that I've been acting weird, right?" Austin waited until Tyrone gave an affirming nod. "And I guess you're right, I haven't been completely true to myself. I was hiding a secret and I guess I changed so that no one would find out."

At this point, Pablo was so excited to hear Austin's big reveal that he was unable to control his jumpiness and he ended up falling off the slide. Upon toppling, Pablo cried out in shocked pain, effectively killing the moment, and causing everyone to momentarily forget that Austin was in the middle of a deep confession as they checked the he was okay. Pablo was fine, so he resituated himself on the slide, calmed his jittery nerves, and everyone turned back to Austin.

Recomposing himself, Austin took in a deep shaky breath. "Okay, so what I was saying, I realized something really important over the summer, and I thought if anyone knew, they would hate me for sure. But now… now I'm not so sure. Do you guys promise not to hate me no matter what?"

"Before the others could offer their reassurances, Tasha broke in with her first thought "Are you a druggie?" She was quickly shushed by the others, as they wanted to hear Austin say what he needed to say on his own. They would never admit it, but if Austin was on drugs, they would not be particularly comfortable with hanging out with him anymore, as they were good kids.

"Okay, okay, so what I really want to tell you, please don't hate me," Austin said, trying desperately to hide the panic that was quickly seeping throughout his whole body at an alarming rate. 'But, I-I like b-b-boys; I'm g-g-gay.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

 **A/N So thanks again to** **1980sjfk for reviewing, I really really appreciate the reviews, so please, if you like it, or know how I could make this better, pretty please tell me.**

For just one moment, the four friends just stared at Austin in shock, then Tyrone broke the silence. "Hey, Austin, I just want you to know that being gay is okay, I don't think any of us will ever hold it against you, and honestly, I think we are all just really happy that you showed us your true self."

"Thanks Tyrone, you always know exactly what to say, I'm guess I'm just really happy I got that off my chest." By that point, Austin was seconds away from a nervous breakdown, even though he had already shared the nerve-maker, the nerves were still getting to him, and all he wanted to do was get away and let the fear take him over when he was alone. Politely excusing himself, Austin fled from the yard, yet again, and into the safety of his bedroom.

Still in the backyard, the others continued their conversation, but, as expected, they couldn't get off the topic of Austin's coming out. "I really didn't see that coming, I thought he was just growing up and going his own way," said Tasha in a much more interested tone than usual, "And maybe his big secret was like being a bad boy, but gay? I'm just shocked."

"Uh huh," Pablo was quick to agree, "he doesn't seem gay at all."

Uniqua stared at Pablo in disbelief, "Really Pablo, did you really just say that? You should know better. Just because there is a stereotype, it doesn't mean that it is true. Austin can act however he wants, no matter what his sexuality is."

"Oh, yeah, right…" Pablo ducked his head in shame, feeling the same way everyone did after receiving one of Uniqua's famous tongue-lashings. "I guess I did know that. Sorry."

"I think you're all good Pablo, it was an honest mistake that you won't make again, right?" Tyrone accepted Pablo's apology on both Uniqua and Austin's behalf.

"So, if we don't wanna treat Austin like he different for being gay, shouldn't we just stop going on and on about it?" Pablo queried.

"Huh, yeah, that makes sense," responded Uniqua, "I guess we should probably talk about something else then. Anyone have any ideas?"

Tasha replied, "Well, auditions are coming up for Once Upon a Mattress, I can't believe the sign up lists haven't filled up yet…"

Gritting his teeth, Austin began to put his pencil to the paper, suddenly, he froze, memories of the horrible results of his football tryouts flooding back. For a brief moment, he almost turned back without signing up, but then he remembered the important difference between then and now.

 _I can do this, football was a fake, I didn't really want to play, I just wanted to be seen as a bro and such. And drama is my life, Uniqua was right, I can do this._

With that, there was suddenly a new name deliberately printed on the signup sheet for the minstrel character.

Come Monday evening, the fabulous five friends piled out of Pablo's mother's mini-van, leaving to her chipper calls. "good luck you guys, you are gonna do great, break all your legs! Oh wait, do you say that for an audition?" her words trailed off as she pulled out of the school parking lot.

The auditions went incredibly well, as would be expected from the triple threats. The group left with a fair amount of confidence, and the judges' notes were simply pages of praise.

Uniqua- Fantastic singing, so powerful, high energy throughout everything, skilled dancer

Austin- Wow! Such a good actor, really brought the character to life, shockingly good baritone

Tyrone- Such a strong rich tenor, strong but graceful for dancing

Tasha- very impressive dancing, clearly trained for many years, very mature voice

Pablo- highly energetic, not developed voice yet, but high potential for future productions

The evening after the auditions, Uniqua sat in her room, surfing the internet. As often befalls young teenagers exploring the depths of the interwebs, she alighted upon the wonderful world of silly quizzes, learning that she was an extrovert, a drama chick, and a cupcake who should dye her hair rainbow. Than a certain quiz caught her eye.

 **A/N so this is her quiz, the question comes first, then her thoughts as she picks her answer is next in italics, then the unitalicized part after is the one she chose.**

Describe him: _well that's an easy one_ , A great guy, I really like him

Where would you wanna go on a first date: _um.. which is the most romantic.. I guess_ , The beach, where we could walk on the sand and sit together and watch the sun go down.

What would your first kiss be like? And where _?: ooh, that's a good question, the kiss would be good, Actually, it would be fantastic, if he wanted it anyways, but romantic or caring or loving… hmm,_ It would be caring because I care about this… and him. So it would have to take place at dinner outside with beautiful music playing, we're talking and all of a sudden he kisses me.

You see some random chick giving your crush some lip action. What do you do after school? _Well that would never happen, at least, I don't think so, he doesn't really date and kiss girls… but if it would, I guess…_ Nothing. IDC.

His nick name. _Oh, which to pick, let's go_ _with_ , Pumpkin

Grade his trustworthiness and looks combined. _Well that's easy_ , A+

What couple are you reminded of when you think of you 2 being together? _Ugh, I hate these questions. I don't know any of these people, random choice cause I've heard of them and high school musical is awesome_ , Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.

Results: BINGO! So close. He will definitely ask you out because he really likes you, but some girls can get in your way. Make his mouth drop when you pass by and you'll really have him. Good Luck!

With a satisfied grin, Uniqua logged off her computer, and went to her window seat, looking dramatically out her window. "we are meant to be, I knew it," She said to no one in particular.

The call-backs for Once Upon a Mattress were that Wednesday, and as expected, all the friends breezed through them without breaking a sweat. They were informed that the cast list would be emailed out by noon on Saturday, but as any theatre kid can tell you, no one can patiently wait until the day that the list is sent, and so all five friends were constantly on devices, refreshing at least once an hour for the rest of the hour, waiting anxiously to see what parts they got.

On Friday, when the cast list still hadn't come out, the friends realized they would have to wait till Saturday, they decided to open the email in the backyard together, so it was no surprise when Pablo went running out at 10:38, the very minute he got the cast list email.

Upon seeing him race outside, Tasha, Uniqua, Tyrone, and Austin came dashing to the picnic table as well. With matching looks of pure anticipation, they all clicked open on the list, scanning as fast as they could for their names.

 **A/N haha, I made a cliffhanger.**


	5. Chapter 5

Tyrone was the first to find his name, and upon seeing his role, he smiled happily and nodded his head in approval. Quickly following this, Tasha caught a glimpse of her role. She smirked and said "I knew it" haughtily.

Uniqua suddenly screamed, then melted into uncontrollable giggles. Grabbing Austin, who was also sporting a huge grin, she skipped around the yard. The two's happy dance happened for a long twenty seconds, drawing everyone's attention, but then they all grabbed their phones and kept checking the lists. Uniqua's grin suddenly fell. "Tyrone, you and Jul-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence, because Pablo cut her off with a wail. "Man with a mop? That's the worst part in the whole show! He doesn't even say anything! And what is a monster understudy? There isn't a single monster in the show!"

The others double checked the list, and there faces twisted when they saw the role. Always there with the answer, Tyrone said, "I guess you'll have to talk to Ms. Elephant tomorrow and ask her what your part is."

Pablo nodded, lower lip quivering as he struggled to keep his face neutral. With that, everyone else started chattering and giggling as they celebrated their successes. Pablo, on the other hand, slunk off into his house. He didn't want to ruin his friends fun with his failures and moping.

Winifred: Uniqua

Dauntless: Austin

Minstrel: Owen

Monster Understudy: Pablo

Queen aggravain: Tasha

Sir Harry: Tyrone

Lady larkin: Julie

Man with mop: Pablo

Taking Tyrone's advice, Pablo had gone to Ms. Elephant for clarity on his role. He took a deep breath, let it out shakily, and tried to give off the air of confidence. Opening the door, he stepped into the office.

"Excuse me, Ms. Elephant, I saw on the cast list that I had the part of monster understudy. What does that mean?"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that typo Pablo. It was supposed to say Minstrel understudy. You're going to learn the part just like Owen, but then he'll get to do the actual performances."

"Okay. Thank you. See you at rehearsal tonight I guess," Pablo said, barely keeping tears at bay. He quickly turned around and almost sprinted out into the hall, where his friends were all waiting for him.

"How did it go? Asked Austin with an eager grin.

"Terrible," Pablo wailed "I'm the minstrel's understudy"

"Wait, isn't that a really good part though?" Said Uniqua in a misguided attempt at consoling him. "And besides, you are a freshman, you've got 3 shows left."

Pablo was not having it though. His face twisted up, and he screamed at a pitch significantly higher than average teenage boy can hit. Everyone flinched and backed away. They were accustomed to Pablo's outbursts, but they weren't exactly excited to experience one in the high school. While Pablo stamped and shouted, his friends awkwardly watching until he just collapsed into a ball of tears.

After a while, Pablo managed to get up. He swiped his sleeve across his eyes and tried to apologize. His voice betrayed the lump in his throat and the tears left unshed. Nobody called him out on it though, and they just surrounded him in a protective circle as they went out to face the rest of the building. Pablo's freak-outs were annoying, but he was basically everyone's little brother, and they would all protect him at any cost.

At lunch, Pablo was still visibly upset. Out of respect, the others kept quiet about their successes, but they still had that happy glow surrounding them. As it normally does, conversation turned to teachers.

"Oh yeah, my teachers seem pretty good right now. My chemistry teacher seems to think that she is a cowboy, but other than that, everyone has had a pretty good first impression. I guess we'll see as the year goes on," Said Uniqua.

"Oh yeah," agreed Austin, "No one really bad yet. But we haven't actually learned anything yet either. How about you Pablo, how are you enjoying freshman year?"

"Mmdgmffm," Pablo muttered grumpily under his breath. Everyone just decided to ignore that and kept talking over him. Suddenly a woman with a bullhorn stood on a chair in the front of the cafeteria.

A screech of feedback shot through the room, silencing all conversations, then a much quieter voice cut through, amplified, but still not actually loud enough to reach each corner of the room. Luckily the friends were near the front and caught every word.

"Excuse me. Boys and girls. Student elections are coming up. If you want to run for any position, please come get a information packet. You can begin campaigning with posters immediately, but you are not allowed to attack other candidates or vandalize their posters. Good luck to all who run."

A wide grin spread across Tasha's face. She ran up, nearly knocking megaphone lady off the chair in her haste to get on it. "Hello, my name is Tasha Hippopotamus and I will be running for class president."

She snatched up the packet and started skipping back to the table, although she stopped suddenly upon hearing another voice boom out confidently. Tasha listened for a second, then shuffled off to her friends, shoulders slumped and feet dragging. "That darn Julie, always stealing my thunder."

Everyone murmured their apologies, except Uniqua who was completely zoned out, staring off at the "announcement chair." "Hey! Uniqua! Listen to me! Did you even hear what just happened?" Tasha shouted at her, trying to shake her out of her daydreams.

"Huh, oh yeah, go Tasha. Down with Julie," She said offhandedly. Clearly her mind was in other places.

Thankfully, Uniqua's insincere praise was enough to satisfy Tasha, who was more interested in her campaign then her friends.

From the left, Austin quietly offered to help out with her campaign. "Tasha, would you like me to try to make some posters or something?"

But once again but Pablo, on her right side interrupted with his sharp voice "I'll be your PR, I have tons of good ideas!" Somehow, he had gotten out of his funk and was back to his perky self again.

Tasha turned toward Pablo, completely blocking out Austin "Okay, that sounds good. I want posters made and ready to hang by tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

Pablo nodded eagerly.

 **A/N So. I abandoned this over a year ago, but SURPRISE, I'm back! I actually have the rest of this outlined (about 10 chapters) But I also have 0 motivation, a computerless summer camp and school to deal with, so updates will be infrequent at best. Thank you so much for everyone who actually has read this, and especially to the two people who are subscribed despite the fact that this died. I really appreciate all your support and everything. See y'all later!**


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